A Quick Overview
Hello ladies and gentlemen, .NET 10 is here! Yes, the latest LTS release, which everyone in the tech world has been gushing about, is finally here. Millions and billions of developers have been relying on the .NET technology for ages, and why not, since it has been considered as one of the best development technologies available across the globe. Several versions of the technology have been released, and each one of them is highly anticipated with a significant bunch of improvements.
Microsoft recently came up with the headlines of introducing .NET 10, one of the important milestones in the development arena. There is no debate about it that the following update brings a new range of features, improvements in performance, and developer-oriented enhancements. So are you craving for the new release? Fret not, the following post emphasises on the main features of this eagerly awaited release.
It is said that the latest release is the LTS version, which means Long Term Support is here to stay for at least a few years down the line. The version will feature all the latest updates, which can lead to seamless optimisation. As a result, developing highly scalable and robust NET-based apps for mobile, web and desktop is a pretty easy thing to do.
What is .NET 10?
The latest releases promote it all from high scalability to robustness, great performance, reliability, security, developer efficiency and the list goes on. And to top it all, here get ready to receive three years of constant updates, optimisations as well as high stability. Further, we will be discussing what exactly the new release brings on to the table and how it turns out to be an absolute solid choice for heavy production environments. So it doesn’t matter whether you are willing to develop high-end web apps or cross-platform mobile solutions or enterprise software; conducting a .NET application development project is the solution to every need.
So .NET 10 is the successor to .NET 9 and is considered as the Long-Term Support (LTS) version. In layman's terms, this means it is bound to receive updates and maintenance for at least three years or more. Below, I would like to mention several promising enhancements of .NET 10.
AI and ML Enhancements - .NET 10 is supposed to be considered a huge expansion of the ML.NET framework, where developers can work in the most effortless manner, leading to seamless integration as well as the absolute use of AI-powered applications. This specific upgrade can result in streamlined predictive analytics, automation, and AI-driven decision-making.
Cloud native and microservice support - Once you have successfully integrated with .NET 10 version, be ready to explore more advanced levels of Docker and Kubernetes. This can result in easy microservices deployment. With the help of Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud, you are bound to witness improvement in terms of the performance of serverless computing.
Enhanced security and compliance - The latest release of .NET 10, you are bound to experience the app’s peak performance even if the app has to face heavy traffic and workloads. The framework features highly optimised runtime efficiency and reduced memory consumption, so the execution timing is much better here.
In addition to all these, the latest release has been a blessing in disguise, especially for the developers, since it has offered a significant increase in productivity and efficiency, all thanks to better debugging tools, seamless error handling, and absolute support for containerised applications. You see, here you will come across numerous better debugging tools in Visual Studio, resulting in better error handling. Plus, they will get improved support for containerised applications.
Top features of .NET 10
As we can see, .NET 10 comes with numerous features and optimised existing functionality to successfully streamline application development. The major Long-Term Support (LTS) release shouldn’t be ignored at any rate. Time to dive into the details.
Optimised Just-In-Time (JIT) Compilation
The JIT compiler is one of the strongest pillars or aspects of .NET technology. And with the release of .NET 10, the JIT compiler seems to have successfully undergone significant enhancements to increase execution speed and optimise memory usage. Though there are several new optimisation methods, such as method inlining and loop unrolling, which emphasise on frequent use of code paths for accurate and quicker execution. What’s more to ask for, is it possible for the .NET tech to successfully optimise frequently used code, ensuring a quick boost in terms of performance in applications which keep on running for the long haul.
Array Interface Method Devirtualization
One of the ultimate objectives of the .NET 10 release is to successfully reduce abstraction overhead. And this is since the JIT, which is the Just-In-Time Compiler, can successfully devirtualize array interface methods, ensuring highly aggressive optimisations.
Now you must be wondering what it was like before the .NET 10 release? Well, the looping was done via an array with the help of a simple “for” loop. So basically, it was pretty easy for the JIT to optimise by removing bounds checks and with the release of .NET 9, loop optimization was introduced.
So the concept is about using a foreach loop with an interface such as IEnumerable, now it’s the right time to introduce virtual calls, which usually prevent optimisation, which means inlining and bounds check elimination:
With the introduction of .NET 10, it is possible for the JIT to successfully detect and devirtualize these calls; as the result, the performance of foreach is automatically optimised. Now you must be wondering when this is done? Well, when iterating over arrays. This is just a stepping stone in Microsoft’s broader plan for achieving performance parity, no matter how different the implementations are.
Better String and Data Handling
.NET has definitely made some absolutely amazing updates regarding how you work with dates and texts. Handling dates now has become a lot easier, including both calculating and formatting, all thanks to the ISOWeek class. Unfortunately, the ISOWeek class works seamlessly with DateOnly, but fret not, there is an option available for text called Unicode for organising texts.
Enhanced certificate management
.NET 10 has successfully upgraded the way certificates are managed successfully and this is usually done using the FindByThumbprint method. This is generally used in the most secure manner, often called the hash algorithms, instead of the old SHA-1. This is certainly digital security. This newer and stronger method can ensure making certificate-based logins and verifications. This makes verification done in a much safer and dependable manner.
Blazor Performance and New Features
.NET 10 features enhanced Blazor, which makes the web page load in a faster manner. It is possible to add different features called RowClass to the Blazor QuickGrid. These two features can ensure easy changes to the look of rows in the table with the help of CSS; as a result, you are bound to have more control over the website design.
Minimal APIs Enhancements
Minimal APIs are improving every now and then, enabling programmers to create simplified HTTP services with less coding. By doing so, it is possible to accelerate RESTful microservices development, which definitely enhances overall performance as well. Now, if you are developing such services, it is possible these updates can give a great productivity boost and enable an app to run in a smooth manner.
AVX10.2 Support
.NET 10 introduces high-end support for Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) 10.2, which is done mainly on x64-based processors. So what exactly is AVX, it is an instruction set mainly designed to enhance the overall speed of vector operations as well as parallel processing.
So if we see from the developer’s point of view, they can find new insights in the System.Runtime.Intrinsics.X86.Avx10v2 class. Even as of now or in future, this leads to significant performance enhancements in mathematical calculations, graphics, and artificial intelligence. So if there is any kind of app which leverages SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) processing, you no longer have to worry.
A fun fact- no hardware supports AVX10.2, so JIT support for these instructions is disabled by default until compatible hardware becomes available.
In addition, you will find garbage collection (GC) highly efficient, reducing latency, especially if you are conducting development of real-time applications. The background GC process is highly optimised and can lead to prevention in memory fragmentation, ensuring better application performance. And since there is memory compaction available, you are bound to see that the developed app will ensure stable memory footprints.
What else, .NET 10 successfully gets rid of all unnecessary package references, leading to fewer project dependencies and application size. As a result, development becomes faster and all the project structures become cleaner.
Since NuGet packaging is highly optimised, all the restore times are automatically reduced, leading to improved reliability of dependency resolution. Moreover, here managing libraries and third-party components is a more doable job.
How to Switch to .NET10?
So I don’t find any reason why you shouldn’t be considering .NET 10. Making the move is the most strategic decision to take since it ensures enhanced performance, absolute security and long-term support. The key to success is ensuring a smooth transition, where developers need to follow a highly structured approach at the same time avoiding any breaking changes. Here are a few steps to consider:
Step 1 - Checking system requirements
Before making the move, you need to be doubly sure about the development environment. Do you think it meets the necessary system requirements? You see, there is no point in running an application on an unsupported platform or outdated development tools; you are bound to witness compatibility issues later in the day.
Some system prerequisites:
Windows 10/11, macOS (latest version), or Linux.
Visual Studio 2022 (latest version) or JetBrains Rider.
Docker (if working with containerised applications).
Ensure all third-party dependencies support .NET 10
Try running:
dotnet --list-sdks
Step 2 - Install .NET 10 SDK
As soon as you confirm all the system requirements, the next step is to install the .NET 10 SDK. Try downloading using the official Microsoft website.
Once you have installed, try verifying by running:
dotnet –version
As soon as it is successfully installed, this command will return a version number such as 10.0.x.
Step 3 - Time to update project files and dependencies
There are high chances of the project being built on the previous versions, be it 9 or much older ones. Time to update the project file (.csproj) to target .NET 10.
- Try modifying the target framework in the .csproj File. Simply locate the file and change the property:
<TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework>
By doing so, you can be doubly sure that the app runs using the .NET 10.
- Time to upgrade NuGet Packages It is extremely important to update dependencies and avoid compatible issues, so try running the following commands:
dotnet nuget locals all --clear
dotnet restore
dotnet outdated
dotnet add package Microsoft.AspNetCore.App --version 10.0.0
Step 4 - Refactor Code to Align with .NET 10 Standards
Once all the dependencies have been successfully updated, make sure you go further and look out for deprecated APIs and rewrite code, especially when needed. As mentioned above, we know .NET 10 has introduced several features and optimisations, which lead to seamless updating of the code base and making the most of capabilities.
Here, you can use the .NET Upgrade Assistant to analyse the project for outdated APIs
Make sure to implement C# 14 features for better code efficiency
Use Collection Expressions for Cleaner Code
Step 5 - Test and Debug the Upgraded Application
Much like development, it is very important to test and debug the upgraded application. As soon as the project is updated, it is very important to test for absolute stability and detect potential issues.
So here you need to use the dotnet test. In any case, if the test fails, there is a chance for quick and easy updation of the code.
One shouldn’t forget .NET 10 features with enhanced performance optimization, so running benchmarks can definitely assist in analysing speed improvements. All you have to is install BenchmarkDotNet and run tests:
Step 6 - Rebuild, Deploy, and Monitor
The last and final step is to rebuild, deploy and monitor. Make sure to run the following command and create a production-ready build:
dotnet publish -c Release -o ./publish, this leads to proper generation of optimized binaries for seamless deployment. And you need to deploy the app to a proper web server, Azure, AWS, or a self-hosted environment.
If the app is highly containerised, try updating the Dockerfile to use .NET 10:
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:10.0 AS base
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "YourApp.dll"]
Then rebuild and deploy:
docker build -t yourapp-dotnet10 .
docker run -d -p 5000:80 yourapp-dotnet10
Final Words
And we are done for now! Isn’t this all exciting? The .NET realm keeps on evolving at a fanatic pace, and the tech literally understands our needs, which is why it mainly emphasises on features, robust speed and optimisation, and enhanced security. Whether you are a startup or a hard-core enterprise, all your needs and demands will be taken care of.
I hope you did find the following post worth taking into account. In case if you have any doubts or queries, feel free to mention them in the comment section below.
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